Electric Light Orchestra - Secret Messages
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Music CD Cover
Artist: Electric Light OrchestraEdition: Music CD
Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2001-06-12
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- Secret Messages
- Loser Gone Wild
- Bluebird
- Take Me On And On
- Time After Time
- Four Little Diamonds
- Stranger
- Danger Ahead
- Letter From Spain
- Train Of Gold
- Rock 'N' Roll Is King
- No Way Out
- Endless Lies
- After All
Free Music Notes for Secret Messages
Free Music Review: Track-wise, original release is better than re-issue
Hit: 4 Stars
I remember being disappointed when this album first appeared on vinyl. I adored (still do) the post-Roy Wood / pre-Discovery albums, and really missed Jeff Lynn's complex and full-bodied orchestral and choral arrangements, through which the group had (after Wood's departure) truly fulfilled its name, "The Electric Light Orchestra." When they officially changed their name to "ELO" upon the release of Discovery, it signified a dramatic change in the group's approach to popular music.
Since the original release of Secret Message, however, the album has grown on me and I now agree wholeheartedly with those who have said that this is one very good, very underrated album - with the caveat that I am referring to the original album as first issued on vinyl and CD, not the re-issued version. There is not a bad song on the original release - most are at least very good, and a couple are almost on par with the group's best work. Some, like Bluebird, Take Me On And On , and Letter From Spain, harken back to the deeply emotional quality of some of Lynn's earlier song writing. All of them are rich in texture. The guitar work on Take Me On And On, for instance, is crisp and bluesy; and Train Of Gold reveals new layers of sound upon repeated listening. Other reviewers have complained that Rock 'N' Roll Is King is ultra-poppy and rockabillyesque. All true, but the song nonetheless is exactly what it strives to be. I think it still fits in stylistically with the rest of the album (partly due to the excellent guitar work, which characterizes much of Secret Messages); and, as the last track on the original release, Rock 'N' Roll Is King provides a nice finale.
Having said all of this, the re-issue of Secret Messages is ruined by the insertion of Time After Time, which, stylistically, is completely out of place in the middle of the album, and breaks up the otherwise perfect mix and progression of music. More detrimental, though, is the simple fact that Time After Time is one of the worst songs Jeff Lynn and company ever produced. The bonus tracks on the re-issue also suffer for the same reasons. All of the these extra songs sound a lot like the sub-par tracks that later appeared on the final ELO album (before Zoom), Balance of Power. For reasons I myself don't understand, other Amazoners have given Balance of Power rave reviews, so I guess folks who like that album will like the extras on the Secret Messages re-issue. Those who like the original version of Secret Messages and agree that BoP is a weak album may be disappointed and should perhaps stick with the first Messages release. The 30 second track samples on Amazon will be enough to help you decide, so give them a listen before purchasing. If you don't like the extra tracks on the re-issue you'll be able to find the original Secret Messages release for sale someplace on the Web, if not on Amazon.
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